Man of Science: The Story of a Scientist
by kcinsu3
Summary: A Scientist by the name of Dr Phillips does what he can to survive the apocalypse whilst trying to find the cure.
1. Chapter 1: TS-001

**Chapter 1: TS-001**

The CDC in Atlanta, Georgia has a busy day today, after numerous reports of biting attacks have been happening. One of the first reported victims in Atlanta was brought to the CDC for an analysis.

"Subject has a large bite on his neck, it appears his jugular has been removed, an impossible injury to survive, a true sign of death. The Paramedics claim this incident happened about 4 hours ago." claims one of the coroners. They continue to analyse the corpse for any traces of saliva on the neck. "If we can find the attacker's saliva, it may be traced to some sort of drug or disease, more likely a drug." claims another one of the coroners. The coroners find a moist part of the victim's skin, which seems to have remnants of saliva on it. "Dr Phillips, I believe we have found a sample." The doctor brings a cotton swab to get part of the saliva. The doctor dips the cotton swab into a petri dish and analyses it with a microscope. He looks into the microscope, and does not notice evidence of drug use. "It appears that this may be an infection, Dr Schmidt. We shall report this to the rest of the crew right away!". "Schmidt, continue the analysis of the petri dish. I will report this." Phillips commands to Dr Schmidt.

As Dr Philips leaves, Dr Schmidt looks through the microscope. Dr Phillips makes it to the conference room and tells the project manager that there is evidence of a contagious disease spreading. "Dr Medici, I have analysed the saliva of the attacker of Test Subject 1, it appears that there is a contagious disease spreading.". "Great work, Dr Phillips, I will inform the rest of the CDC of this. You are saving lives as we speak!" says Dr Medici. "What ever I can do to save humanity, Doctor." says Dr Phillips.

As Phillips returns to the analysis room, he sees that Dr Schmidt lying on the ground dead with a huge puddle of blood under his neck. "Schmidt!?" He picks up Schmidt's corpse and notices a large bite mark on his neck, as soon as he notices this, he sees Test Subject 1 is walking towards him. "Oh my, SECURITY!" Phillips runs into the security quarters, where he sees a squad of security guards running towards the laboratories. Alarms start going off in the CDC.

" _EMERGENCY ALERT: THREATS LOCATED IN LABORATORY SECTOR, EVACUATE AREA IMMEDIATELY_!"

One security guard tells Phillips to evacuate the area.

"Sir, you have to evacuate the place, we can handle this." the guard tells Phillips. "Our Test Subject killed my partner, what do we do?" asks Phillips in a scared voice. "Evacuate the area at once, sir, you will be able to return when the threat has been neutralized." orders the security guard.

Phillips enters the main halls, where he sees numerous scientists and security guards.

"Phillips! They said the threat came from the Laboratory Sector, did you see it?" asks one of the fellow scientists. "It was the test subject I was working on, my partner got killed by him, I don't know what happened, I told about my analysis, and next thing I know, is dead, and the Test Subject is walking!" explains Phillips.

"EMERGENCY ALERT: THREAT HAS INCREASED, ANY PERSONNEL IN THE LABORATORY SECTOR IS IN CRITICAL DANGER, EVACUATE AREA IMMEDIATELY!"

Phillips looks through a security window, and sees on the monitor, a security guard being bitten by Test Subject 1. "Oh my! There it is, right there, my Test Subject just bit that security guard!"

The Security Guards are seen guarding the entrance to the CDC, and numerous Police Vehicles can be seen approaching.

"What on Earth is going on?" asks Phillips in a scared voice. Much of the crew tries to leave the facility, but the security guards keep them from leaving.

"STEP BACK AT ONCE! NOBODY GETS IN OR OUT OF THIS FACILITY!" shouts the lead security guard.

"ONCE THE NATIONAL GUARD ARRIVES, THEN WE CAN ENSURE SAFETY!" shouts the lead security guard once again.

"ATTENTION: THREAT IN LABORATORY SECTOR HAS BEEN NEUTRALIZED, CLEAN UP TEAM REPORT TO LABORATORY SECTOR, IMMEDIATELY."

"Who's going to accompany them?" asks a concerned scientist. "Sir, the threat's been taken care of, they'll be fine." says one of the security guards. Unconvinced, enters the elevator to the laboratory sector to check on what it looks like, and notices the corpse of one of the security guards, and also notices a security guard holding his shoulder in pain.

"What happened?" asks Phillips to the security guard. "Test Subject 1 attacked us, we restrained him and he still killed one of us, and he bit me in the shoulder, it hurts like hell!" says the security guard in a pained voice. "Did you kill him?" asks Phillips. "We had to shoot him in the head, we shot him in the chest and he didn't die!" says the security guard.

The clean up crew is seen carrying the corpses of Test Subject 1, Dr Schmidt, and one of the security guards into the morgue. "Come on, Bentley, let's get you patched up" says one of the security guards. The security guard walks Bentley towards the infirmary, and Phillips watches in a concerned manner.


	2. Chapter 2: The Way Home

**Chapter 2: The Way Home**

Dr Phillips restlessly lies in his assigned bed in the dormitories of the CDC, hoping that his family is safe, wherever they are. Numerous scientists can be heard conversing in a room nearby. Phillips knocks on the door, and sees his good friend, Dr Birdwell. "Hey, Jim, how are you doing?" asks Birdwell to Phillips. "I'm doing okay, Lou, is it okay if I join your conversation?"

Lou says "Go right ahead, Jim, come in.". Jim enters the room and the scientists continue their conversation, but one of them seems interested in finding out what happened to Jim's test subject. "Hey, Jimmy, you were working on the test subject who reanimated, what happened?" asks one of the scientists. "I was analysing the DNA from the saliva of who ever had chewed out his jugular, and noticed that there was little evidence of drug use, so I decided to inform Dr Medici about evidence of an infection or something and-" "An infection!?" one of the scientists interrupts Jim. "You said his jugular was chewed out?" asks the scientist. "Yes, we thought there was no way for the test subject to come back to life, but he did.". "Fascinating, this must mean this is an infection which controls the nervous system after the death of its carrier, regardless of the circumstances…" points out the scientist. "That must mean that it requires destruction of the brain for the carrier, the security guards in the laboratory sector said they had to shoot the test subject in the head to stop him." says Jim. "Anyways, where was I? Oh, yes, after telling Dr Medici about the infectious nature of this… thing, I returned to the laboratory, to find my colleague dead, and the test subject walking. I ran out of the area, while the alarms were going off, and that's really it. I noticed one of the security guards died, and one of them were bitten, but not dead." says Jim. "Wait, Jim, you said your colleague and one of those security guards died?" asks Lou. "Yeah." replies Jim. "Where were their bodies taken?" asks Lou in a concerned voice. "I'm pretty sure they were taken to the morgue." says Jim. "They're going to reanimate!" shouts Lou. "Oh no…" says Jim. "Come on, we have to tell security about this!" says Lou.

Just then, screams and yelling can be heard nearby. "Where is that coming from?" asks one of the scientists. "I think the security guards are in trouble, what do we do?" asks another scientist.

"EVACUATE!" shouts Lou. Large sums of scientists swarm out of their dorm rooms, towards the elevators, where they fight each other on who goes through the elevator first. "Screw it, we won't make it to the elevators, to the stairway!" shouts Lou. The scientists run through the stairway up towards the main halls, where the scientists are confronted by National Guard.

"Return to your dormitories at once!" commands one of the soldiers. The soldiers aim their guns at the scientists, and Lou speaks up "You don't understand, sir, there are people being attacked in the dormitories!". The soldier seems confused, and asks "What happened?". "We don't know, we believe there are unarmed security guards being attacked by a carrier!" says one of the scientists. "Do not waste my time, back to your dormitories at once!" shouts the soldier. The scientists continue to argue with the soldiers, where then gunshots can be heard below. "Do you hear that?! That's what we were talking about!" says Lou. The soldiers call in for back up. "We got a 10-71 in the dormitory sector, CDC, requesting back up! All of you, exit the building!". The scientists exit the building, where many of them walk towards the parking lot to leave the facility.

"Are we allowed to do this?" asks one of the scientists. "I don't know, but I'm going home, I need to return to my family, they're probably worried." says another one of them. Jim goes to his car, and he can hear one of the scientists asking a very loaded question. "Are you all really going to abandon the chance to save humanity right now?". One of the scientists replies with "Am I not allowed to at least talk to my family about what we may have to do, most of the planet doesn't know what's to possibly come.". "Whatever you say, I'm staying.". After the scientist says that, many other scientists join him. "You're right, Jenner, I'll do what I can." says another scientist.

Jim gets in his car, and as he approaches the exit, a national guard soldier approaches his car.

"What are you leaving for, sir?" asks the soldier. "I'm going to alert my family of this event, I will be back the next morning." The soldier opens the gate and lets him through.

Jim starts driving down the road to his hometown, wondering just what has happened that day to himself. "If Test Subject 1 had his throat chewed open, what happened to the attacker?" "Where did this pathogen originate from, where was the first case?" "Was it that security guard, Bentley I think his name was who the security guards shot?" "How long have these attacks been happening?" "Where else is it happening?"

"So many questions, I must find this out tomorrow morning!" Jim thinks to himself. Jim eventually drives back home, where he realizes it is now 4:00 in the morning, and that his shift starts at 10 AM. So he goes into his house, and right away, his wife asks him something.

"Honey, what's wrong?"


	3. Chapter 3: More Information

**Chapter 3: More Information**

"At work, we were informed about an unusual crime which the Atlanta police department believed was the result of a possible new drug being used. We were given a body who had its throat chewed open, apparently. When my partner and I- you know Martin, right?" asks Jim "Yeah, you told me about him a few times" replies Jim's wife. "Well I found a sample of the attacker's saliva, and analyzed it, no sign of drug use, which I assumed meant it might be part of some sort of disease, I remember hearing about it a few months ago, I don't remember. When I come back to the laboratory after telling the Project Leader about the discovery, Martin was dead." "Oh my god, what happened?" asks Jim's wife. "The test subject came back to life. He attacked Martin while he was analyzing the sample. Suddenly, alarms in the building started going off, I make my way back to the main hall, and I see officers and later National Guard coming. On one of the surveillance screens, I saw a Guard get bit by the Test-Subject, I think he killed him. Later I go back down there, and see that another guard was bit. Later to about an hour ago, I'm talking to Louis, and then we hear screaming in the nearby dorms, all of us scramble back to the exit so we can get the hell out of there, when National Guard starts arguing with us. Eventually, I think one of the guards in the dorms shot whatever was down there, and that's when the National Guard let us go, that's about it." explains Jim. "How did the test subject come back to life?" asks Jim's wife. "I don't know, as far as I would know, that's impossible. I will find out more the next morning. I'll let you know when I come back home the next day. I need to get to bed." Jim and his wife lie in their bed. Jim has trouble falling asleep due to the horror he had witnessed that day, but eventually does fall asleep.

The next morning, Jim wakes up to his son asking him something. "Dad, can we play catch?"

"Yeah, hold on a bit, Vic, I just woke up, go watch tv or something…" Jim gets up and has his typical morning routine of eating breakfast, taking a shower, brushing his teeth, etc. While having breakfast, Victor tells Jim something "Dad, my teacher, said one of her family members got bit by someone yesterday!" "How is her family member doing?" asks Jim. "She said that he's in the hospital right now." says Vic. Jim finishes his food, takes a shower, and decides to play catch with Vic for a bit before Jim leaves to go to work. Jim tells Vic something. "Hey, Vic, listen to me. If anything happens at school, run back home, okay? Tell mom if anything bad happened, you hear me?" "Yes, dad." says Vic. "Good boy, have a great day at school, buddy!". Jim gets in his car, as Vic walks his way to school. Jim remains very worried about his family knowing that something really bad may be happening.

Eventually Jim makes his way back to the CDC, where the National Guard ask for identification. Jim goes back to the building, where the scientists are all being told about what is happening.

"At this very moment, Wildfire may be global, the first reported case was about 4.3 months ago, where the first reported incident of a person being bit had occurred. We are all working together, and it appears the nation of France has been leading the cause for the cure of Wildfire. Work safe, Work Smart, the future of humanity depends on it!" Right away, the CDC is given a convoy of different corpses to work with. Right away, Jim makes his way to the morgue, where he asks a security guard to accompany him. "I am going to experiment on the body of Martin Schmidt." declares Jim. The coroners drag out the bed, where it reveals Martin had reanimated over night, the security guard draws his gun, and fires at Schmidt's forehead. Martin's corpse is then transported to one of the lab rooms, where Jim starts analyzing Martin's saliva. Jim puts a sample of Martin's saliva in a petri dish and analyzes it, he notices a similarity to what he had observed the day before. Out of curiosity, Jim decides to spit and put that into a petri dish as well. He notices that the samples are identical. This worries him, and at the same time, disappoints him. He writes down in his study: "It appears either all humans have been affected by the pathogen, or that saliva is not what is affected.". Jim then injects a syringe into Martin's arm, to extract a blood sample. Jim fills a petri dish with the blood, where he then analyzes the blood sample. He cannot note a clear difference between Martin's blood and normal human blood, he writes this down. "It appears that the blood of a carrier is not what is affected by the pathogen."

Jim then figures that the final analysis must be done on the brain. But he does not have access to any surgical tools, as other scientists have been using them on a security guard who had recently died. Jim checks in on their experiment, where they are testing on Bentley, the dead security guard. They are looking at chunks of his brain. A security guard who witnessed Bentley's attack is watching nearby, and Jim asks what happened to him.

"You were in the Security Dorms when Bentley attacked?" asks Jim to the security guard. "Yeah, what about it?" responds the security guard. "I'd like to know what happened when he attacked." says Jim. "Well… Me and some of my buddies were playing Poker, Bentley wasn't getting out of his bed, we kept trying offering him drinks and shit, but he wouldn't even move. Eventually, we saw Bentley get out of his bed, and he started biting the shit out of Freddy, we beat Bentley, but he just wasn't dying. Then Vlad came with a gun and shot Bentley, National Guard came to us and arrested Vlad, we don't know where the hell he is now. Freddy was taken to a hospital, and that's about it." explains the Security Guard. "Did they say what they'd do to Freddy?" asks Jim. "I don't know, considering what happened to Bentley yesterday, I hope they stop him from becoming those… things, I think you science boys call them carriers?" asks the security guard "Yes, that's what we refer to them as." explains Jim.

The scientists store chunks of Bentley's brain in a testing tube, and label it TS-2. Then, Jim asks for surgical tools to extract chunks of Martin's brain. "I'm going to need the surgical tools to store Martin's brain in something as well." demands Jim. "Here you go, Dr Phillips" says one of the scientists, and they hand Jim a few tools.

Jim returns to his laboratory to extract a chunk of brain from Martin's head. Jim then stores it in a testing tube and labels it TS-3. At this point, Jim is unsure of how exactly to approach curing the pathogen. He writes down a document about what has happened so far.

"Day 1: I have made an analysis on Test Subjects 1 and 3, it appears that the cause of their attacks are from a pathogen. Test Subject 1 was a late teens to early 20s caucasian male who's throat has been chewed out. He reanimated roughly 4 hours after he had been reported as dead. Test Subject 3, who's name is Martin Schmidt, was a late 20s to mid 30s caucasian male who had a large portion of his neck chewed on. He appears to have died from bleeding to death. It is unknown how long it took for him to reanimate, although, he had already reanimated by the time he was extracted from his morgue bed. TS-1 and TS-3 share similarities with their saliva as does human saliva, I am unsure whether this means all humans are affected by this pathogen, or if there is something yet to be discovered. The blood of TS-3 also beared similarities to normal human blood. I have stored a sample of TS-3's brain in a testing tube, which is labeled TS-3, if there is any further analysis needed, TS-3's brain sample can be used for experimental purposes."

Jim, after writing his report, he files a copy of it in his cabinet, and turns another copy into the Project Leader, Dr Medici. Medici reads the report. "Of course the cause of their attacks is from a pathogen, Phillips. Have you not heard what the World Health Organization has told us?" asks Medici in an impatient voice. "Yes, I just figured that this can be used as confirmation." replies Jim. "You're implying all of us are infected?" asks Medici in a worried voice. "Perhaps if I can get a blood sample from a living person, that can advance my conclusion." responds Jim. "You also stored TS-3's brain sample, what about TS-1's?" asks Medici. "Test Subject 1's body was disposed of." replies Jim. "Okay, Phillips, we're going to need more progress, our chemists have been working on what can be used as a vaccine, we need to know, what kind of pathogen is this. Viral, Bacterial, Fungal, Parasitic, anything, remember that." Medici tells to Jim.

Jim checks the time and notices his shift is nearly done, he decides to go on break for lunch, and he talks to his friend, Lou. "Hey Lou, what have you been up to?" asks Jim to Lou. "I've been working with the Chemistry crew, they've been using samples of TS-2 and TS-3's brains for something, they were analysing them, Edwin and Candace want more samples than just brain chunks, they want flesh, eyes, etc." explains Lou. "Any progress on a cure at all?" asks Jim hopelessly. "Hell no, we don't even know what kind of pathogen this is, some even think that God's behind it, I mean, bringing dead people back to life? The hell kind of pathogen can do that?" says Lou in a unhappy tone. "Obviously one we haven't discovered to its full extent yet." says Jim. "Of course, but I doubt I'll live long enough to see it cured, and that just hurts." says Lou hopelessly. "Well how's your family been doing?" asks Jim. "I told them that we may need to camp out somewhere in the forest, if this is gonna take over the world, as Vi told us, then we should hide out there, you and your family should come along!" says Lou. "I'd have to make it back there first, I'm getting increasingly worried about how things will turn up there." says Jim.

"Well why don't you find out?" asks Lou. "I'll do it, my shift's about to end anyways." says Jim.

Numerous scientists are seen exiting the building, many are forced to stay, some are allowed to leave, Jim is one of the lucky ones to not be forced to stay. Jim runs to his car, and as he approaches the National Guard exit, the soldiers start getting suspicious of scientists leaving the place. "Identification, please." says the soldier. Jim shows his ID card to the soldier. "I demand an explanation for your departure, sir." says the soldier. "I'm not departing, I'm going back home to check on my family, sir." says Jim. "So you will return?" asks the soldier. "Of course I will." says Jim. The soldier then allows Jim to leave.

As Jim drives his way home, he notices a man walking alone in a treeline nearby. Jim looks extremely worried at the sight of it, and just continues driving. "A man walking by himself in the forest at around 8 PM, with no light?" Jim says to himself. "Very suspicious behavior, I must say". Jim continues driving, he sees numerous police vehicles and military vehicles on his way home. "This is getting worse and worse by the day, what will I do for my family?" Jim worries to himself. Jim makes it to his neighborhood, where he sees another person walking around by themselves in the darkness. Jim quickly runs into his house and locks the door in a panic.

"Honey, are you okay?"


	4. Chapter 4: Word Goes Out

**Chapter 4: Word goes out**

"Yeah, honey, I'm okay." replies Jim to his wife. "Listen, Marie, I need you to leave any densely populated areas." commands Jim. "Why?" asks his wife. "The infection is getting worse and worse. There's some guy walking by himself out there, he might be a carrier!". His wife starts panicking. "WHAT?!" shouts his wife. "Board the windows, lock all doors, and get the gun, and we will be fine!" Jim and his wife rush towards the shed in their backyard and get some wooden planks. They nail the windows in their living room shut, as they believe those windows are most vulnerable for carriers to enter from. "Dad, what's happening?" asks Victor. "Vic, get to bed, things are fine." says Jim. They turn on the TV to be greeted with a EAS alert.

"THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION. STARTING TODAY, AUGUST 13TH, 2010, A CONTAGIOUS DISEASE HAS GONE GLOBAL. MANY REPORTS OF BITING ATTACKS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING ACROSS MANY NATIONS. SOURCES SUCH AS THE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL HAVE INFORMED US THAT THIS IS, A PATHOGEN THAT IS SPREADING. SYMPTOMS OF THE PATHOGEN INCLUDE: DELIRIUM, SWEATING, EXTREME LETHARGY, AND IN CASES AFTER DEATH, REANIMATION. IT IS CURRENTLY UNKNOWN HOW THIS PATHOGEN SPREADS. MAKE SURE TO DO THE FOLLOWING:

AVOID ALL INFECTED INDIVIDUALS, KEEP A SUPPLY OF FOOD, WATER, CLOTHING, FIRST AID KIT, FLASHLIGHTS WITH EXTRA BATTERIES, AND BATTERY-POWERED RADIOS. NATIONAL GUARD UNITS WILL BE SET UP WITHIN CERTAIN AREAS IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA. TO LOCATE YOUR NEAREST NATIONAL GUARD CAMPSITE, BE SURE TO CHECK MAPS PLACED ON YOUR NEAREST GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHMENT. IF YOU CANNOT GET TO THE NEAREST NATIONAL GUARD UNIT, FOR ANY REASON, CONTACT YOUR LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENT, OR MILITARY OFFICER, FOR ASSISTANCE. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES, OR CELLPHONES, EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF EMERGENCIES. STAY TUNED TO LOCAL NEWS MEDIA OUTLETS FOR FURTHER DETAILS AND INFORMATION ON THIS PATHOGEN."

The broadcast then cuts to the news outlet, where they are talking about the pathogen. "Victor said someone at his school was really sick today, and that a lot of police showed up to his school." says Marie. "Well, I'm going to talk to Victor, he's probably scared to hell right now."

Jim walks to his son's room, and sees Victor trying to sleep, but he's too scared. "Vic, is everything okay?" asks Jim. "Dad, someone at my school was really sick, the police took her away." says Vic. "Who was it?" asks Jim. "I think it was one of the teachers, I think her name was or something like that, one of my friends said she was mean." explains Vic. "Was she bitten, or anything like that?" asks Jim. "I think so, when the police took her away, I saw a huge bite mark on her leg." says Vic. "Well Jim, I hate to tell you, but we might need to move away from here soon." "Why? We can't stay here?" asks Vic. "No, it's too dangerous, there are monsters out there, the army set up a camp for us to stay at, we can go there." explains Jim. "But what about my friends, and school?" asks Vic. "Don't worry, Victor, I'm sure your friends will go to the same camp, school will come back if we can stop the monsters." says Jim. "I hope you stop the monsters dad." When Jim hears this, it really touches him. This inspires him to find the cure, he manages to avoid breaking a tear hearing this. "Don't worry, son, I'll stop the monsters." Jim hugs Victor. "If I'm gonna stop the monsters, I'm gonna have to stay at work. Okay?" asks Jim. "Okay." says Vic. "While I'm gone, be good to mom, okay?" asks Jim. "Okay." says Vic. Jim kisses Vic goodnight, and walks back into the living room. "Listen, Honey, do whatever you can to stay alive, with Vic, okay? If things go wrong, I'll be there at the camp to find you." says Jim. "Yes, babe, don't worry!" says Marie. Jim looks back outside, and hears a police siren. "Shit, the police are coming, they probably saw that man outside." Jim takes his gun and sneaks out his front door, to see what's happening. He can see the police aiming their guns at the man outside. "FREEZE, PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!". The man starts to walk towards the police officers. "FREEZE, THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!". The man continues walking towards them. The police then start shooting at the man, several screams from within people's homes can be heard. Jim looks in horror as the man continues walking towards them. The man takes down one of the officers and the officer in question manages to shoot the man in the head, killing him. "We got a 11-99 on Birchwood Court! Repeat, an 11-99 on Birchwood Court, the 10-66 threat has been neutralized!" says one of the officers. When the officer gets up, a bite mark can be seen on his arm. Jim decides to go towards the officers, and they aim their guns at him. "Get back, there is nothing to see here!" commands one of the officers. "That officer is going to turn!" shouts Jim. "Get back to your house, or you will be placed under arrest!" "The chief advises a 10-62." "Sir, state your business!" says one of the officers. "I'm a scientist working at the CDC, bites are fatal, it's best you… exterminate anyone who has been bitten…" says Jim. The bitten officer aims his gun at Jim. "Shut your fucking mouth, and get back, sir!" "But-" "I'LL BE FINE, GO THE FUCK AWAY!" commands the bitten officer. Jim runs back into his house, in fear. While Jim sits in his home, he can hear the officers arguing. Eventually he hears gunshots and ducks and covers. "OH SHIT! MARIE, VICTOR GET DOWN!" shouts Jim. Jim holsters his rifle towards the entrance of the house in case the angry officer tries to kill him. After several minutes of waiting, he finds that there are no more gunshots, and an ambulance is coming. He looks outside, and sees 2 dead officers, and the suspect being taken into the ambulance. Jim, Marie, and Victor all sleep in the same room, to avoid anything bad happening. They all talk about their concerns, and Jim falls asleep.

The next morning, Jim notices his son and wife are gone, as they are in the living room, the TV is no longer functional. "What happened?" asks Jim in a worried voice. "The TV isn't working, I think the power is out." says Marie. "Oh no… Do you think it's too late to evacuate?" asks Jim. "I'm not sure... " says Marie. Jim commands Marie and Victor to get in the car. "Get anything we need, we're going to the army's camp, now, I'm not staying here another minute!" says Jim. The family brings some supplies, and Jim gets in his car. "Look, we might not come back home, okay Vic?" Victor starts to cry, as he is scared. "Vic! Stop! We need to do this, it's not safe here anymore!" Vic stops crying, and just looks out the window in fear. "Okay, we're going to the police station, they should have a map.". Jim starts to drive towards the police station.

While driving to the police station, Jim sees a helicopter flying overhead, and he stops the car to listen. "To Anyone who can hear this! The nearest National Guard camp is at the Centers for Disease Control! Repeat! The Centers for Disease Control is where you are to evacuate to!"

Jim hears this, and is somewhat relieved. "Well, Victor, Dad will be close." says Jim. Jim drives towards his workplace, to notice a lot of chaos on his way. He notices police everywhere, and a few military vehicles as well. Victor then brings up something that scares both Jim and Marie. "Mom, why was that person eating him?" "WHAT?!" asks both the parents. Victor points at where he saw this happening. Jim steps on the gas pedal. "Those are the monsters, Vic, we need to stay away from them!" shouts Jim. Victor starts to get really scared. Jim then notices a herd of carriers near one of the neighborhoods. Jim turns his car around and floors it to the next available path. "That's more of them!" shouts Jim. Marie and Vic are both really worried at this point. Jim can see his workplace in the distance. "Thank God, we made it!" Jim floors it to the entrance, and is happy to see the National Guard soldiers. "Identification, please." says the Soldier. Jim gives them his ID Card. "Those 2 will be kept in the camp, is that okay?" asks the soldier. "Yes, yes, definitely!" says Jim. Jim drives to his parking spot, and the soldiers escort his family. "Dad!" shouts Victor. Victor and Marie hug Jim, and they are taken away by the soldier. "Don't worry, son, Dad will be back soon!" says Jim. Jim then walks into the building, where first thing, the scientists talk about the project, they notice Medici hasn't showed up yet. This is when Candace and Edwin walk to the podium to announce some bad news.


	5. Chapter 5: Update

**Chapter 5: Update**

"Ladies and Gentlemen. We're inclined to believe that due to Dr Medici's absence, that he has been killed. He appointed us as Vice-Managers of this project, and therefore, we are now managing this project." "My lovely wife, Candace gets that honor, I... I can't take it." says Edwin. The scientists simply want to know what they do now. "So we will simply continue what Dr Medici has commanded." says Candace. The scientists start getting ready, and Jim is glad to see his friend, Lou is okay. "Louis, you're alive!" says Jim. "I'm more glad to see you're okay, Jimmy!" says Lou. "I guess you brought your family here too?" asks Lou. "Yep, so glad I did, my neighborhood is way too dangerous, a cop got bit last night and he tried killing me because I warned the officers he needs to be exterminated. He went crazy and killed one of his partners I think. Some other officer killed him and that's about it." says Jim. "Damn, that's crazy, in my neighborhood, a group of teenagers got attacked by one of them, I think they tried fist-fighting the carrier. When I woke up this morning I heard gunshots, pretty sure one of the neighbors killed 'em. Whatever the case, I ain't staying in my neighborhood to find out." says Lou. "Well, let's get to work, Lou." says Jim.

The scientists are working on different test subjects, all for different reasons. Jim is assigned to make more samples. He's assigned to another autopsy, to clear up if headshots are definitely fatal. Jim is certain of this case, but he needs to clear it up for them. He is assigned to TS-5. He is supplied with a handgun, and sees a corpse strapped to the slab in his laboratory. He reads the tag, and sees that this is the corpse of a homeless person, no other information was given, he was able to tell just from looking at the man that he was somewhere in his late 40s to early 50s. He had a giant beard, long hair, and was underweight according to measurements he was provided. After a few minutes of observing his corpse, the man reanimates."Oh shit!". Jim grabs the pistol and decides to shoot the carrier in the head. The gunshot echoes throughout the sector, and it hurts his ears. "Ow, God damn!" Jim gets to the floor. He can hear soldiers rushing towards his room and he puts his hands up. "PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" shouts one of the soldiers. "I was assigned an experiment to test if headshots definitely kill carriers! Nothing bad!" says Jim in a shaky voice. The soldier leaves the room, and takes the gun with him. Jim writes down the results of this experiment.

"Day 2: I have made an analysis on Test Subject 5. He is a 40 to 50 year old homeless man, as evidenced with his horrible lack of personal hygiene. It appears his cause of death was from a bite, much like the previous Test Subjects. I do not know how long his body has been present on the slab, but it appears that he had not yet reanimated when I had arrived. I was assigned to test if a headshot from a firearm can guarantee that a carrier dies. It is confirmed that a headshot, indeed is what kills them. More particularly, anything that destroys the brain of a carrier."

Jim files a copy of his document in his cabinet, and brings another copy to where Candace is. "Dr Candace Jenner, Test Subject 5's experiment has been complete." announces Jim. "I heard the gunshot, great work, Dr Phillips, hand it over." Candace reads over the document, and now knows what measures need to be taken to dispose of infected corpses. "I will inform the military of this right away, fantastic job, Phillips." Jim now exits the building to find his family. Jim sees many helicopters flying around, he can hear a lot of gunshots and screaming in the distance, very fearful, he finds his family. Jim goes to the camp, and he can see his family. The military allow Jim to regroup with his family, and he tells Vic what he did. "Dad came one step closer to stopping the monsters, Vic!" says Jim in a happy voice. "When will you stop the monsters?" asks Victor. "That will take some time, Vic, don't worry, Dad will stop it.". "My friends are here, Dad, can I play with them?" Jim asks one of the soldiers how children are handled. "We exterminate any children who are bit. No children have been bitten so far. Children are allowed to play within sight of the soldiers, sir." says the soldier. "Go ahead Vic, have fun!" Victor goes to play with his friends, while Jim talks to Marie. "I had to shoot my test subject, they told me that's what I had to do, it was some old homeless guy.". "Why?" asks Marie. "They wanted me to check if headshots are fatal to carriers, like I expected, they are.". "That's good news, now we know how to kill them." says Marie. "How are things going on here?" asks Jim. "Some guy was bit, and the soldiers fucking shot him down." says Marie. "That's what needs to happen, there's no vaccine for bites." says Jim. Jim looks towards the cities, and all he can see is helicopters flying around. "Things are just getting worse and worse out there. Be glad that helicopter told us." says Jim.

Later on that night, Jim and Marie are in their tent, cuddling, while Vic is asleep. "Do ya ever think we should've had another kid?" asks Jim to Marie. "Maybe if the world wasn't ending." says Marie. "Don't worry, sweetie, we can stop this." says Jim. Marie is unconvinced, she is worried the entire family will die. "As much as I want to hope you can stop this, it looks like it's just too hard." says Marie. "Don't worry, sweetie, I'll make sure we all live through this." says Jim. After a bit of talking, Marie falls asleep, but Jim simply can't. Jim walks over to the top level of the CDC Parking lot, which has been partly used for the area's campsite. He looks over to see fires in the distance, and he can still see many helicopters flying around. Jim realizes that the U.S. will probably collapse before the cure is made. Partially demoralized, he goes back into his tent to sleep.

The next morning, he is commanded by a national guard soldier to accompany a mandatory briefing session. "Sir, You need to come with me." says the soldier. Jim's wife and his kid, along with another family in the tent wake up. "You, and you, come with me." The soldier makes Jim and the woman of the other family come with the soldier. "What's going on?" asks Jim. "You have to attend a mandatory briefing session, every tent will need at least 1 caretaker, which is what your wife is assigned to." The session is taking place in the main building of the CDC. Many people who aren't scientists are visibly amazed to see what the inside of the CDC looks like.

The Camp Commander goes to a podium, and starts talking. "You have all been summoned for this mandatory briefing session. As it may be apparent, there is an international crisis happening. Already, a few Georgia Camps have not responded to our hourly status checks. These camps go as follows: Dalton, Rome, Summerville, and perhaps, most importantly, Macon.

The Atlanta, Savannah, and Augusta camps are currently holding well. As for other states, it appears that New York and California are having intense struggles to keep things stable. Riots are said to be in effect in Los Angeles and New York City. It appears the state holding most effectively is Texas. As of now, no state has been reported fallen, although, Illinois, particulalry Chicago appears to be in complete anarchy. Washington DC is holding well, and the president will be making an announcement soon.

As for other countries, France, The United States, and China are leading in the global effort on research for this pathogen. China and India are said to be suffering extreme casualties by the minute. It is believed the countries holding hardest are: The United States, Russia, Japan, France, South Korea, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Those not listed are likely suffering large casualties and may completely collapse within the next week.

As for the pathogen itself, the French intend that this pathogen may be viral. This status however, has not been confirmed, do not take that declaration as fact.

As for this camp, all science personnel will continue their research on the pathogen. Some will be assigned to take care of children, elderly, and disabled individuals. If you are showing signs of illness, or know someone who is, immediately contact your nearest National Guard Soldier. Failure to do this will result in punishment. All National Guard and Security Personnel will continue to maintain order within this camp. Food Rations will be handed out daily, we currently have enough food rations to last us a few months. If things go as planned, convoys will arrive monthly to bring more food supplies.

Further information will be handed out, as control of the crisis continues. You are all dismissed."

After that lengthy speech, the scientists of the CDC gather in a conference room to talk about their future.


	6. Chapter 6: Doubt

**Chapter 6: Doubt**

"I'm not certain that the National Guard will be able to maintain order here." says one of the scientists. Many of the scientists agree with this statement. "Well, what about the project?" asks Jim. "It's foolish to think we'll be able to make progress under these conditions, soon the military may having second thoughts on defending this area, they already stated Illinois is in anarchy." says the scientist. "They said Chicago was in anarchy!" one of the scientists corrects them. "Do you remember how things were before the camp was established here, things would've easily gone chaotic if this wasn't done in time!" yells the scientist. "We're just buying ourselves time, and I doubt it's much time! Candace is just an optimistic fool!" declares the scientist.

After this outburst, many of the scientists become notably demoralized, including Jim. "Candace's task may be foolish, but her task can determine our future!" yells Edwin. "Oh what do you know Edwin?" replies the scientist. "You listen to me, Walter! I will not stand for your behavior, you are undermining our progress by demoralizing us with this non-sense, if you wish to opt out, do so, you are not helping anyone!" shouts Edwin. "Well then, many of you might agree, leaving here, while it won't help the progress for the cure, the cure won't be made in time for us to see it in our lifetimes! So therefore, yes, I do opt out! I will do so with my family. You can go along with your foolish tasks, ladies and gentlemen, but I simply cannot take part in this!" shouts Walter. Some of the scientists, along with Walter leave the room. When this happens, much of the team is even more heavily demoralized. Louis can be heard sighing in stress. "I can't believe this…" one of the scientists can be heard saying.

Jim exits the room, but not to follow Walter. He overhears a conversation between some of the national guard soldiers. "Hey, Otto, you think we should get a drink from the canteen?" "Now's not the time, Joe." "Come on, man, this shit's boring, half the time none of the science team passes by." "Hell, guess so, if the commander catches us, it's on you, bud." "Nah, man, we'll be fine.". After seeing them pass by, he starts to believe the national guard is not to be fully trusted. "I know I can use a drink" Jim thinks to himself.

Jim sees Louis exit the room, and he asks him "Hey, Lou, want to get a drink?". "Damn straight, I need one, forgot the canteen even gives those out." Jim and Lou walk into the canteen, to see large amounts of the security guards and national guard socializing. Jim and Lou get some beers from the canteen. "I kind of prefer wine, but I think the canteen is low on those." says Jim. "Hell, I prefer vodka, sometimes I drink that during New Year's Eve, sometimes Christmas.". The two men continue to drink, whilst socializing. After leaving the canteen, they are somewhat motivated to do some research. However, one of the security guards notes their drunkenness. "Sorry pals, can't let you pass while intoxicated, can't say I blame you for drinking, but you're gonna have to call it a day. " says the guard.

The two men walk outside, noticing it is now the afternoon, and they can see numerous cars exiting the CDC. Jim and Louis decide to re-enter the CDC to enter an empty office building, where they get a view of the outside world. Jim notices a small fridge with some wine in it, they then remember this room was used for an office party. "Hey, Lou, this stuff's from 2008's Christmas party, remember?" "Nice, we'll have this room to ourselves for a bit, I need to relax." Jim and Lou just talk and watch helicopters fly about, vehicles passing by, etc. They suddenly notice someone getting devoured by carriers in the distance. "Holy shit, Lou, did you see that?"

Lou looks and sees it "Holy shit…" Jim and Lou just watch as the carrier continues eating. "I'm glad I ain't there…" says Lou. Soon, it becomes night time, Jim and Lou then fall asleep.

The next morning, they wake up, and Jim has a severe hangover. Jim notices wine bottles everywhere. "God damn, did we drink THIS much?" Jim thinks to himself. He sees Lou is still asleep. "Lou, wake up!" Lou still is asleep. Jim shakes Lou, and Lou wakes up angry. "Ow, goddamn, my head!" Lou shouts. "Quiet down!" Jim says sharply. Lou sees all the bottles around them. "Damn, Jim, you're quite the drinker!" Lou says in an entertained tone. "I only had three, what are you talking about?" Jim and Lou start laughing. "Gonna go back to my tent, I think you should too." Jim and Lou exit the office, and go back to their respective tents.

Jim comes back to the tent. Marie appears to be dismayed from something. "Honey, what's wrong?" asks Jim. "Why did all of those scientists leave?" asks Marie. "They thought finding a cure was useless, I'm pretty sure they're returning to their families…" says Jim. "Were you drinking, you look like shit!" asks Marie in an annoyed voice. "*sighs* Yes, dear. I was stressed yesterday." "Well, I guess I can't blame you, I hate being here, I'd rather be home." says Marie. "Well you're safer here, honey." says Jim.


	7. Chapter 7: TS-008

**Chapter 7: TS-008**

Jim decides to enter the laboratory, to see what he's been assigned, to see that he has multiple assignments. "Record the duration between initial death of a person, and their resurrection as a carrier.". Jim looks over and sees an elderly man on the slab, with a life-support machine. He walks over, and is startled when he hears the man saying something. "D-Doc?" asks the man. "Yes, what do you need, sir?" asks Jim. "Can you just put me out of my misery?" asks the man.

"What's wrong?" asks Jim. "I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer just months ago, everyday, my body hurts- *coughs*" The man starts heavily coughing as his sentence was interrupted. "Don't worry sir, I have some euthanasia supplies." Jim replies. "Thank you so much, doc… God bless you." says the man. "I learned this method while I was studying in Amsterdam, this might sting a bit." Jim gets a jar of nesdonal, and fills a syringe with it. "Any last words, sir?" Jim asks. "Yes, tell my wife, Jean, that: I'll never forget the day I met her in Le Havre. I protected her from one of my buddies, he wanted to rape her..." after the man says this, he lies his head down. "Go ahead, doc, godspeed on your cure.". The man closes his eyes, and Jim then injects the nesdonal into the man's neck. About a minute later, the man seems to be unconscious. Jim then injects Pavulon into the man's neck, another minute later, the man isn't breathing, then Jim injects KCL into the man's neck. Then, shortly after, the man flatlines.

Jim then starts a stopwatch on a computer, and programs this stopwatch to pause when the man starts getting a heartbeat. This is when Jim realizes the man was never bitten. Confused, Jim consults the archives of information, where he sees the result of a previous experiment of some other scientist. The file is labeled I. Kleiner.

"Day 3:

I have made an analysis on Test Subject 7, to reveal that a bite is not the cause of reanimation.

The carriers, or as the family who arrived referred to as "Biters", informed me that their adolescent daughter had killed herself via hanging, she had apparently done this somewhere within the region of the parking lot. I, nor apparently any personnel were informed of this tragedy. It even seems as so no other survivors are aware of this. To keep the stability of this camp in check, military personnel, nor camp survivors are to be informed of this situation, which is what I informed the family of. They understood, and the young lady's corpse was transported to my laboratory. Minutes later, she had reanimated, I was unable to calculate the time it took for her to reanimate, but according to what her family suggested, and the approximate time she reanimated (8:47 AM) about 2-3 hours. After she reanimated, I euthanised her, by inserting a scalpel into the side of her head. Which as Dr Phillips had observed with TS-5, had proved effective.

In conclusion: The term carrier is not quite an effective term for these undead individuals. As this situation implies that the bite is not what turns one into an undead individual. Perhaps my claim may be proven false if a living person dies (without their brain being destroyed) and does not reanimate."

After reading this, Jim decides to exit his laboratory, to get his daily ration. Jim goes into the canteen, where he hears some soldiers talking. "Yo Joe, word got out that Caleb's queer, what's that about?". "Caleb?" asks Joe. "Yeah, what's up with that guy?" asks another soldier "I don't know man, he's a weird dude, I think he was trying to ask me out or something, he told me I look good in my tank top. I just told him I ain't gay." Jim just shakes his head from this conversation, and gets his ration. It was the same as the other days, as Jim now saw it, the dreaded Veggie Burger. As Jim sees this, he becomes frustrated. "At least those military drones didn't take anything out of it…" Jim thinks to himself. Jim looks over where he heard the conversation, and he sees the soldiers surrounding one of the soldiers at their table. Jim, again, shakes his head at the sight of this. "It's like they're in high school." among the general ambience in the canteen, suddenly he hears someone shout "Faggot!" he then hears some of the soldiers laughing. Jim, annoyed, just leaves the canteen with his MRE.

"So ridiculous, I can't believe how childish the guards here are…" Jim thinks to himself. Jim returns to the laboratory, to see that the man still has not reanimated. So Jim goes to the break room to eat his MRE. Here, he sees some fellow scientists playing a card game, and conversing. "Between you and me, I don't trust the national guard." one of the scientists say to the other. "Yeah, I think soon enough, they'll end up fighting each other." says Jim. "What makes you think that?" asks the scientist. "When I was in the canteen, there were soldiers making fun of a soldier who's apparently homosexual." replies Jim. "Was he homosexual?" asks the scientist. "I don't know, apparently he said one of the other soldiers looked good in a tank top." replies Jim. Some of the scientists chuckle, and the scientist replies with "He might be, I don't know. Want to join us?" asks the scientist. "Sure." says Jim.

Jim and the scientists all talk around the table. "So what's your name?" asks the scientist. "James, what about you?" replies Jim. "My name is Irwin." replies the scientist. The other scientists introduce themselves. "I'm Gertrude." "I'm Elijah." "I'm Daniel". After they introduce themselves, Jim simply says "It's nice to meet you all." After a while of playing cards, Jim leaves to goto the restroom, he then remembers his experiment at that point. While Jim is in the restroom, he sees blood on the floor inside one of the stalls.

"Oh shit." Jim says to himself. Jim exits the bathroom and runs to the nearest security guard. "There's something in one of the stalls in the Men's restroom!" Jim says to the guard. The guard enters the bathroom, and sees the pool of blood. "We got a 10-54 in the Men's Bathroom, Laboratory Sector, requesting back up." Shortly, other security guards accompany him, and they break open the stall. They see a man on the ground with his wrists slashed, and a bloody scalpel next to him. Jim sees a group of national guard soldiers surrounding the bathroom. "Nothing to see here, sir, move along." one of the soldiers say.

Jim enters his laboratory, to see the man has reanimated. Jim looks at his computer screen to see that the man had resurrected 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 30 seconds after dying. Jim then writes down his analysis.

"Day 4:

I have made an analysis on Test Subject 8, to discover the length of time between initial death and reanimation of an U.I (Undead Individual).

I was introduced to this man as he was still alive, he was an elderly man in his 80s. As evidenced with a story he had told me on his service in World War 2. The Man informed me that he had been afflicted with Stage 4 Lung Cancer, and he asked me to euthanize him, to which I decided to do, using the common procedure for lethal injections. Afterwards, he had reanimated approximately 2 hours, 26 minutes, and 30 seconds after initial death.

I believe it is safe to say that anywhere from 2-3 hours after death is a common time for a corpse (which has not had its brain destroyed, presumably) to reanimate."

After completing this, he files a copy, goes to a different bathroom, and turns it in to Dr Candace Jenner. "Here you go, Dr Jenner, I completed TS-8's experiment." says Jim. Candace reads the document. "Did you already exterminate him in his undead state?" asks Candace. "No, he's still there, I was unsure if you need anything else of him." replies Jim. Candace has an idea. "We'll store him in a certain place…" Candace contacts the Clean-Up crew. Candace speaks into the intercom: "Clean-Up Crew, transfer Test Subject 8 to Biological Containment Shelter".

As Jim is about the leave the office, Candace stops him. "Dr Phillips.". "Yes, Dr Jenner?" asks Jim. "What has been going on with Walter?" asks Candace to Jim. "He and a bunch of the science personnel decided to leave, they thought the cure wouldn't be made in time." replies Jim. "What about the National Guard?" "It seems they have been acting much more unusual as of late." says Candace. "The National Guard are a bunch of children. We can't trust them fully. I trust the security guards here more." says Jim. "That doesn't answer my question, Phillips." replies Candace in an impatient tone. "The National Guard are spending a lot of their time getting alcoholic drinks in the canteen." replies Jim. "Hmm. I suppose that could explain your absence yesterday." says Candace. "What?" asks Jim. Jim is slightly nervous after he hears her say that. "One of the management's offices were filled with bottles. The same ones from the christmas party 2 years ago. Louis came earlier to apologize to me about his absence yesterday, he told me everything. I have direct ties to the Camp Commander, if you or Louis decide enjoying yourselves is more important than finding the cure, your and Louis' families can follow the path of Walter. Understood?" "Understood." replies Jim.


	8. Chapter 8: Down

**Chapter 8: Down**

"It has been two weeks since Wildfire has been declared and it was declared by the CDC on August 12th. We are no closer to a breakthrough, unfortunately. It is believed Military Convoys are not going to be able to reach our vicinity within time. Many cities and states have fallen to this rapid apocalypse. We have not been getting contacts from China, we are to believe the country is succumbing to the undead. It appears France is still holding up. I fear the worst for our well-being at this moment, ladies and gentlemen. We have now had around 13 test subjects, and we were able to deduce a lot from them."

"We have discovered that ultimately, the bite does not make you reanimate, as all humans have the pathogen, which is what makes you reanimate. It appears the undead have superhuman abilities, where Dr Erich was able to analyse that they can take stabs, blunt attacks, and even bullets as long as their brain is not destroyed. We have numerous brain and blood samples, which we will hopefully be able to use if our camp can be stable, with that, you are all to analyse these samples." Dr Candace Jenner commands to the science team.

The scientists are doing their work, trying to analyse blood samples to compare them with older blood samples. Jim compares a sample which was delivered in 2009 to the blood of TS-11, a young boy who had been bitten. Jim notices TS-11's blood cells have a strange sickly color, whereas the 2009 sample looks completely normal. As he is about to note this, he hears someone shouting.

"What the fuck, Cay, calm the fuck down!" Just then, he hears gunshots. The scientists then lock the door to the laboratory. One of the scientists ends up getting shot after doing this. Security Guards flood the room. "What the fuck is going on in here?" shouts one of the guards. "One of the National Guard are going on a rampage!" shouts one of the scientists. They can see the soldier pounding the door. The security guards get in position, and the soldier breaks the door open. The security guards shoot the soldier down, and they slowly walk to where the guard is, to see he killed another soldier. "We got a 10-71 in the Chemical Laboratory, perpetrator has been taken out, requesting Clean-Up team." "We also got a 10-47, that is, an injured scientist, and a 10-39.".

Several squads of National Guard swarm the laboratories. They see the dead bodies of the fallen soldiers. "All of you, you're gonna have to wait outside." says the Squad Leader. The science team leaves the CDC to go outside, Jim decides to find his briefcase filled with important documents. "Jim, where are you going?" asks Lou. "I'm getting out of here." says Jim. Jim goes into the laboratory where he conducted most of his experiments, Lou follows him. "Who was that soldier who killed that man?" asks Lou. "I'm pretty sure it was some soldier who was being harassed by the soldiers in his squad or something, he looked familiar." Jim finds his briefcase hidden alongside some spare mres. "What do you keep in there?" asks Lou. "Documents, and a few food supplies." replies Jim. Jim puts a few MREs in his briefcase, and takes the elevator up to the main room. "Where are you headed?" asks Lou. "My wife and I talked about camping out in the forest, what about you?" replies Jim. "My wife thinks it would be a good idea to join y'all." says Lou. "I suppose we could use the extra manpower. Marie's worried that if we try to return to our house, bandits will attack us." replies Jim. "If the rumors I heard are true, there's some sort of civilization forming in Decatur." says Lou. "Who told you that?" asks Jim. "Some teenage boy mentioned it when I was interviewing his family for the experiment on awareness of a 'walker' as he called it.". "Yeah, lots of the newer refugees are calling the undead that, did he say anything else about this 'civilization'?" asks Jim. "Not as far as I'm aware." replies Lou.

"Is something wrong with the elevator?" asks Jim. Jim and Lou look up at the elevator's hud and notice it's glitching. Lou's first action is that he starts pushing random tiles on the elevator's ceiling. Jim tries prying the door open, to no avail. "What is going on?!" asks Jim. "Hold on, I found the right tile!" shouts Lou. Lou starts pushing so hard he starts grunting. "Do you need help?" asks Jim. "Yes! Push this, I'm not going to die in a goddamn elevator when all hell is breaking loose!". Jim and Lou start pushing, and they hear a creaking noise. They both then have an idea. "On three, we shove this, ready?" says Jim. "One… Two… THREE!" they both shove full strength on the tile and it very loudly pops off, echoing in the elevator shaft.

Jim and Lou then climb onto the top of the elevator, where they now worry about where they'll go to exit the building. "Did you try opening the door on the elevator?" asks Lou. "Yeah, it wasn't moving at all." replies Jim. They look at the wall and see the next set of doors is just about 4 feet above them. "Lou, I'll give you a boost if you could pry open that door!" says Jim. "Okay, I'll try!" replies Lou. Jim boosts Lou towards the door, and Lou with as much strength as he can manages to pry the door slightly open before he falls over. "OH SHIT!" shouts Lou. Lou, luckily falls back into the elevator. "Oh shit, Lou, are you alright?" asks Jim. "Yeah… My god, my life flashed before my fucking eyes…" Lou gets back on top of the elevator, and the men pry the elevator door open.

Jim and Lou are in a section they've never seen before, and it's completely dark. "God, I can't see a thing." says Lou. Jim bumps into what he thinks is a tool cart. "Ow, what the hell?" says Jim. "Are you okay?" asks Lou in a worried voice. "Yeah, I think I bumped into some cart or something." Jim feels around on it and hears something metal fall over. "I think this is a tool cart, we might be in the maintenance area of wherever we are." says Jim. "Well, can you find a flashlight, or a switch, maybe?" asks Lou. Jim goes back to the elevator entrance and sees a toolbox nearby. He brings the toolbox towards the light from the elevator shaft and uncovers a flashlight. "Lou, I found a flashlight!" says Jim. "Good, let's look for a circuit breaker or a switch in here!"

Jim and Lou walk around, and are seemingly lost. "I think we've been here before…" says Jim. "Let's enter a room and turn on the lights, that way we don't end up there again." says Lou. Jim and Lou enter the room closest to them which seems to be a break room. They turn on the lights and find an extra flashlight, and notice a paper on the table. Jim reads it. "To Norman Clarence, Under no circumstances should you be in maintenance quarters when there is no need for maintenance. All doors leading to the area will be locked in such times. In case of emergencies, contact the maintenance foreman in his office. Have a safe and smart first day!

-Administration"

Suddenly, Jim and Lou hear what seems to be something falling over from outside of the break room. "What the hell was that?" asks Lou. "There might be someone else stuck in here." says Jim. "Let's go back to that tool cart, I'm not going too far from here until I have a weapon." says Lou. Jim and Lou go back to the tool cart and they both pull out hammers. "Where do you think the foreman's office would be?" asks Jim. "It can't be too far from the break room." says Lou. Jim and Lou go back to the break room, and see that the corridor goes down further. "This way, I guess." says Jim. After a bit of walking, they see another door, and it's locked. After enough abuse, the door flies open. They are indeed, in the foreman's office, and its completely empty. They see a map, and a set of keys. "Looks like we're on the same floor as the dorms." says Lou. "Where's the exit?" asks Jim. "It's on the opposite side of the map here." says Lou. "Let's get going, I need to get back to my family." Jim and Lou walk towards where the map leads them. "Jim, did you see that?" asks Lou in a whispering voice. "See what?" asks Jim, whispering. "Someone walked into one of those rooms." whispers Lou. "Forget it, Lou, we're not going that way anyway." says Jim.

"Oh shit, that's one of them!" says Lou. Jim turns around and sees an undead construction worker with gruesome amounts of blood covering his arms. Jim and Lou start panicking. "Oh fuck, what do we do?" says Lou. Jim looks around the hall and sees a toolbox with all of its tools scattered on the floor. "Lou, get a weapon!" Jim picks up a hammer, and Lou picks up a hacksaw. The walker walks up to them snarling loudly. "Get back!" shouts Jim. The walker continues walking towards him "I'm warning you, get back! I won't tell you again!, Jim strikes the walker in the face with the hammer. The walker falls on his back, and Jim continues striking the walker with the hammer. "Jim, get a hold of yourself, god damn!" shouts Lou. Jim stops hitting the walker, after crushing the walker's head in with the hammer. His lab coat and face covered with bloodstains. "Damn, Jim, you might want to get a shower." says Lou. "It's not that much, let's just get out of here." says Jim.

After a bit of walking, they finally find the exit. "Thank god, we're out of here." both of the men say. Jim unlocks the door and they get out. They find they're right next to the exit of the dormitories. They look at the elevator door "I don't think we'll be doing that shit again…" says Lou. Both of the men laugh and they take the stairs. They notice it's now the afternoon when they look out the windows, and just seconds later, they hear shouting.

"Oh shit, what's going on!?" shouts Jim. They see much of the national guard rushing outside. "Copy that, come on men, go, go, GO!" they see the commander rallying the troops outside. Jim and Lou run outside, and they see a helicopter coming. "CDC Camp! Critical Warning, you have a massive horde of undead approaching, eta 30 minutes, ordering evacuation!" says the pilot of the helicopter on a microphone.

At this point, things are becoming chaotic. Jim immediately runs to find his family. "Lou, go find your family, I'll be back!". As Jim runs to where his family's tent, he gets stopped by a soldier. "Woah, woah, I'm trying to find my family!" shouts Jim. "Get in the jeep, sir." commands the soldier, aiming his gun at Jim.

"Sir, just let me go!" shouts Jim. "I'm not asking again!" commands the soldier. Jim hears a gunshot and sees that a soldier is in a fight with a man trying to leave with his family. "I WARNED YOU!" Jim then feels a severe strike to the back of his head, and he falls unconscious.


	9. Chapter 9: Outside

**Chapter 9: Outside**

"Doc, wake up!". Jim wakes up to see a soldier carrying his rifle looking at him. Jim feels a blunt pain on the back of his head. "Ow, what happened?" asks Jim. "It's time for you to help us build a little community here!" says the soldier. "Where's my family?!" yells Jim in a worried voice. "We don't know sir." says the soldier calmly. "WHERE THE FUCK IS MY FAMILY!?" shouts Jim. The soldier aims his rifle at Jim. "You're gonna be managing rations, sir, I'll show you where you have to be." says the soldier, still aiming his rifle at Jim.

Jim exits the tent to notice he's in a forest, and not too far from where he is, he notices a trail. "Where are we?" asks Jim. "We're in some nature preserve, I forgot the name, we heard talk from some of the refugees that this place could be good for camping." says the soldier. "Is this place fortified?" asks Jim. "We'll start small here, and get bigger, soon enough, we'll be taking back the whole town." says the Soldier. Jim sees another tent, where he notices a large amount of MREs. Jim walks inside, and here, he is introduced to another person assigned to rations. "Terry, this is Jim, Jim, this is Terry." both of the men greet each other. "Okay, so, Terry, you'll be walking with Jim with that checklist, you need to make sure all of the documented survivors get their rations for today, once they've all been given rations, come to me.

The soldier leaves the tent, and Jim and Terry start talking. "So, Terry, did you come from the CDC?" asks Jim. "Yeah. They separated me from my family… I'm the oldest of 3, the only brother." says Terry. "What happened to your parents?" asks Jim. "I don't know… We took shelter in DHS, my highschool, when my mom and dad told me to bring my sisters to the CDC, they thought we had a chance there…" says Terry. "You're wearing a labcoat, I guess you were a scientist back at the CDC." says Terry. "Yep, my family… I don't know what happened to them, they separated me from my wife and son." says Jim unhappily. "Tell me, how is the cure going?" asks Terry curiously. "Not so-" Jim is interrupted by the same soldier from earlier. "Get to work, gentlemen, last thing you want is to piss off the Lieutenant." says the soldier.

Terry looks at the list. "We got a lot of soldiers, not that many either, it's only 11 people in this camp." says Terry. "How many aren't soldiers?" asks Jim. "There are 6 soldiers, and 5 regular people." says Terry. Jim and Terry exit the tent to start delivering rations. "Well, we can probably just keep these on the desk, we're on that list too." says Jim. Jim puts the MREs on the desk in their tent. Jim sees a soldier walking into a nearby tent. "Sir, could I ask you your name?" asks Jim. "Pvt Howard." says the Soldier. Jim hands him his MRE. "Thank you, sir." says Howard.

Jim notices the soldier from earlier, along with a fellow soldier patrolling. "Gentlemen, could I get your names?" asks Jim. "I'm Cpl Leftler" says the soldier from earlier, "I'm Pvt Hubert" says the other soldier. Jim hands them their MREs, and the soldiers thank him. Jim sees a large tent being guarded by one of the soldiers. "The Lieutenant must be in there, let's give him and his guard their MREs." says Jim. Jim and Terry walk up to the soldier guarding the outside of the tent. "You are Cpl Terrance, right?" Jim asks the soldier. "Yes sir." replies the soldier. "Here's your MRE, sir." says Jim as he hands the soldier his MRE. "Thank you." replies the soldier. Jim and Terry enter the tent, where they see the Lieutenant is trying to signal other soldiers. "Hawk 4 to any outlying squads, come in!" says the Lieutenant into his radio mic. "Your MRE, sir…" says Jim. "Leave it on my desk, thank you!" says the Lieutenant. Jim puts the MRE on the Lieutenant's desk and they exit the tent. "Well that's the last of the soldiers, and we got ours, so just 3 more people." says Jim.

Jim and Terry walk over to some smaller tents, where they see two women and a young boy. "MREs, I'm going to need your names." says Jim. First, an older blonde lady walks up to Jim. "My name is Nancy Gonzalez." says the lady. "Wait a minute, were you a teacher at Clairemont Elementary?" asks Jim. "Yes, why?" asks the lady. "You were my son's teacher, his name is Victor." says Jim. "You're Victor Phillip's father, nice to meet you!" says the lady. "Nice to meet you!" says Jim, as he hands the MRE to her. Next, a younger lady with dark hair walks up to Jim. "My name is Gwen Cavalli." says the lady. "Here you go." says Jim as he hands her the MRE. Jim lastly walks up to the young boy. "Hello, what's your name?" Jim asks the boy in a nice tone. "I'm Sam…" says the boy in a worried voice. "Sam Cavalli?" asks Terry. "Yes, sir." replies the boy in a scared tone. "Here you go, son." says Jim as he hands the boy an MRE. "Well that's everyone, Terry." says Jim.

Jim and Terry report to the Lieutenant. "Sir, we're done distributing rations." says Jim. "Good, you're done for the day, once we start getting back out on the streets, there will be more work for you to do." says the Lieutenant. Jim and Terry go back to where the other survivors were, and they sit down in a circle.

"So, Jim, you never told me, how were you scientists doing on the cure?" asks Terry again. "Oh yeah, we didn't get much progress, we were told, however, that the French were leading in the world's effort on the cure." replies Jim. "Yeah, I remember when that one briefing session." replies Terry. "So, Jim, where's your family?" asks Nancy. "I don't know." replies Jim in a unhappy tone. "Are they alive or dead, what happened?" asks Nancy. "They took them to a different truck, all I guess I can hope is that the truck they were taken by safely got to its destination." says Jim. "Oh my, I'm sorry to hear that!" replies Nancy. "My mom got bit when it all started…" says Gwen in a depressed tone. "What happened?" asks Terry. "W-While we were going to the store to take food, on our way out, some guy tackled her and bit her on the arm…" Gwen's speech starts to shake as she is holding back tears. "Some dad with his family managed to get the guy off of her and he shot the man in the face… We ran out with our groceries, just in time before the bandits started showing up.. Then, later that night, mom… in her room…" at this point, Gwen starts crying, and Nancy comforts her. Her brother, Sam starts to cry as well. "Do you two know each other?" asks Jim to Nancy. "I knew her mother." replies Nancy. As Terry and the others start talking, Jim sneaks onto the trail.

Jim walks down the trail, becoming worried he might encounter walkers. Jim eventually notices a building along with a blockade the military appears to have made. "This is Glenn Creek…" he realizes. Jim walks up to the sidewalk, where much to his dismay, he notices numerous walkers mindlessly roaming about. He decides to walk back towards the trail to get back to the group. "Oh my… I have to get out of here. My family needs me." Jim thinks to himself as he walks. Jim then notices something moving in the treeline. "Oh shit…" Jim says as he jogs back towards the camp.

"Jim, where'd you go?" asks Terry as Jim walks into his tent. "I'm going to leave the camp." says Jim determinantly. "Why?" asks Terry. "My family needs me, I will not sleep knowing my family could be in danger out there." says Jim. "But we're all in danger-" says Terry as he is interrupted by Jim. "Of course we are! I want to know if my family dies, I was there to at least make things right!" says Jim. "Well how do you plan to leave?" asks Terry in a worried voice. "I'm just going to leave through the front of the park, these things move too slowly to catch up to me." says Jim. "But the streets are flooded with them, there's no way you'll be able to avoid all of them!" Terry replies. "True… Maybe if we had a map or something, we'd be able to find another way out of here." Jim says. "What do you mean 'we'?" asks Terry. "Well are you gonna stay here while you don't know where your sisters are?" asks Jim. "I mean, chances are they're okay wherever they are… But even then, I don't know where they are." says Terry.

Jim leaves the tent, he hears some of the soldiers conversing in their tent. "...we'll leave them, Lt is fucking crazy." says one of the soldiers. "What about the kid?" asks another one of the soldiers. "Damnit, Hugh, you're gonna fuck us over." says the soldier from before. "Well tell me, Howie, are you really gonna leave those helpless people there?" asks Hugh. "They were fucked from the start anyway, Hugh, except MAYBE that scientist guy, we might actually need him." says Howard. "Yeah, what will he do? I'll ask you that." says Hugh. "Guy has to be smart, we can use him to talk our way out of shitty situations if we get in them." says Howard. "He can talk walkers out of eating us? Or talk our stomachs from killing us from starvation?" says Hugh emphatically. "Yeah, maybe not. Well, when should we try to do it?" asks Howard. "I don't know, dude, maybe during our next patrol, if we go there now, we'll get caught, we'll sneak a few mres to the quote unquote broken jeep." says Hugh. "All right." says Howard, as both the soldiers leave their tent.

Jim goes back to the tent where the civilians are waiting to tell them what's happening. "Terry, we might have a chance!" says Jim in a whisper yelling voice. "Chance for what, leaving?" asks Terry. "Yes! We can get out of here!" says Jim. "What's the plan?" asks Terry. "Some of the soldiers want to escape the camp with some Jeep, if we can stop them, we can get the keys, and drive out of here!" says Jim excitedly. "Should we tell the others?" asks Terry. "Yeah, I guess we should." replies Jim.


	10. Chapter 10: What Happened

**Chapter 10: What Happened**

"Honey, wake up, you're gonna be late for work!" Jim hears as his wife shouts to him. "What the fuck? Marie? What happened?" Jim asks Marie in a worried voice. "You slept in again!" Marie says. "Oh… Crap, well I better get going, sweetie!" says Jim. Jim puts on his clothes along with his labcoat, and quickly drives to the CDC, not even time to talk to his son.

On his car radio, he hears of some crime incidents that occurred recently.

"..Today marks the 7th anniversary of the murder of former Georgia State Senator Saxon Chandler from the hands of Professor Lee Everett of the University of Georgia in 2003, this event marked the first time an American State Senator has been killed since the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, brother of 35th United States President, John F. Kennedy, in 1968. The current Georgia State Senators, Jimmy Isaacson and Vernon Hopkins held a rousing speech today in memory of Senator Chandler. 'Ladies and Gentlemen of Georgia, we come today to remember the legacy of Senator Saxon Chandler, in his days as a Congressman, one of his most well known moves was his sponsoring of H. R. 5480 in the 107th Congres-'".

Jim turns off his radio out of lack of interest after he hears the speech concerning the former senator's political career. "The hell are they trying to get at? It was pretty well known Senator Chandler was sleeping with that man's wife, that's what he said in the court case." says Jim in boredom. Jim tunes the radio to a different news show. "...We have Officer Diana Pratt of King County with us here today to talk about a recent shooting that occurred following a bank robbery. 'Thanks for showing up, officer, how are you doing today?' 'I'm doing great, thanks for this opportunity!' 'So, you were on dispatch according to the news article relating to this ordeal?' 'Yes, I was told of a robbery at a bank not far from King County, I heard that the robbers were obviously armed and dangerous, but we didn't find out about the situation until they had already left the bank! We couldn't send SWAT in time, so we had decided to send the Sheriff as it would be quicker. They managed to send the perps off the road, but they started shooting, apparently, the sheriffs returned fire, and I think only one of them got shot.' 'Are they okay?' 'Yeah, he's fine, I believe, he's in the hospital at the moment.' 'I send my condolences to the man's family.'" The show then transitions into an advertisement.

"Hmm. Interesting story. Got something to tell Marie when I get home." Jim thinks to himself. Jim then parks his car into the CDC. He notices something out of the ordinary, an ambulance parked nearby, accompanied with multiple police officers. Jim walks into the CDC, to continue research on Bird Flu.

"DR PHILLIPS AND DR SCHMIDT REPORT TO DR MEDICI'S OFFICE."

Jim hears this on the intercom and walks over to Medici's office. He and Martin sit in Medici's office, and Medici comes in with a file in hand. "So, you two are here today for briefing on a very serious situation." "We have been informed of multiple bizarre situations occurring in multiple major cities. We have just received from the paramedics, the corpse of a man who had apparently been bitten about 4 hours ago. We understand you two have done jobs as coroners, we want you to determine the cause of this bite. There is a very dangerous situation in the horizon, you two, we keep getting reports from the WHO about a strange new contagious disease, we need you two to clarify this to us. Time is sharp, your Test Subject has been placed in Lab Room 03.

Jim and Martin walk towards the elevator. "A contagious disease?" asks Martin. "I honestly hope this is just some druggie, it being a disease would be very concerning." says Jim. Jim and Martin enter their assigned Lab Room, and they see a bodybag on the slab. They put on surgical masks and goggles and they unzip the bodybag and see the corpse of their Test Subject.

"Subject has a large bite on his neck, it appears his jugular has been removed, an impossible injury to survive, a true sign of death. The paramedics claim this incident happened about 4 hours ago." says Jim. Martin and Jim continue to analyse the corpse for any traces of saliva on the victim's neck. "If we can find the attacker's saliva, it may be traced to some sort of drug or disease, more likely a drug." claims Martin. Martin finds a moist part of the victim's skin, which seems to have remnants of saliva on it. "Dr Phillips, I believe we have found a sample." Jim brings a cotton swab to get part of the saliva. Jim dips the cotton swab into a petri dish and analyses it with a microscope. He looks into the microscope, and does not notice evidence of drug use. "It appears that this may be an infection, Dr Schmidt. We shall report this to the rest of the crew right away!". Schmidt, continue the analysis of the petri dish. I will report this. "Will do." replies Martin.

Martin looks closer into the microscope, and sees what seems to resemble virus structures. "This is a disease… those are viruses!" shouts Martin. Suddenly, Martin hears a strange noise coming from the test subject. "What the?" says Martin, we walks towards the test subject. "Sir?" asks Martin to the dead man. Martin puts his head against the Test Subject's chest.

Suddenly, the Test Subject snarls loudy and chomps into Martin's neck. "Ah- Help! Dr Phillips! Help me!" shouts Martin, but the blood in his throat renders him silent. Martin just seconds later falls unconscious from blood loss.


	11. Chapter 11: Inconvenience

**Chapter 11: Inconvenience**

Jim and Terry exit the tent to tell the camp's civilians that they plan on escaping. "Why?" asks Nancy. "We're safer here, than out there, Mr Phillips." says Nancy. "Not for long, Ms Gonzalez, none of you can tell the guards this; some of the soldiers plan on escaping themselves." says Jim in a quiet voice. "Why?" asks Gwen. "They think the lieutenant is crazy, that's what I heard them say." says Jim. "Are you saying we should join them?" asks Nancy. "No, I think we should intercept them, take some MREs, their guns, and drive to a place I believe has a safer camp." says Jim. "You think so?" asks Nancy. "Yes, Decatur High School, Terry here came from there before he arrived to the CDC, also I vaguely remember one of my coworkers saying there was a civilization somewhere around here, I think DHS may be what he was talking about.". "Well when will those soldiers be leaving?" asks Nancy. "I think they said the next time they go on patrol, that can't be long from now…" says Jim. "Maybe there's some sort of schedule or something we can find?" asks Terry. "Maybe it's in the MRE tent." says Jim. "We'll be right back, everyone." says Jim.

Jim and Terry walk towards the MRE tent, and they see a whiteboard. They look at it.

The board reads:

Camp Patrol:

Pvt Hubert - Morning

Cpl Leftler - Noon

Cpl Terrance - Night

Park Patrol:

Pvt Howard - Morning

Pvt Kelly - Noon

Cpl Terrance - Night

"Who's Private Kelly?" asks Terry. "I don't remember, pretty sure his name was already crossed out for a ration, I don't remember handing him one…" replies Jim. "Which soldiers were planning on leaving?" asks Terry. "I'm pretty sure it was Hubert and Howard." replies Jim. "Well they have morning patrol, that definitely already passed…" says Terry. "Well it looks like we have time to wait then." says Jim. Jim and Terry exit the tent.

"Hey! What do you two think you're doing?" asks Cpl Leftler to Jim and Terry. "We were just- just double checking if we gave everyone their mres, sir!" says Terry. "The MRE Tent is off limits outside of rationing! This is your only warning!" yells Cpl Leftler. "Yes sir!" says Jim. Jim and Terry walk back towards the tents to sit around the bonfire.

"So when will the soldiers leave?" asks Nancy. "Tomorrow morning, according to their schedule." replies Jim. After Jim tells them this, the group sits around their bonfire for a good while, exchanging stories, this is when they decide to dig into their MREs.

As the civilians are talking at their bonfire, some of the soldiers hear rustling in the tree line. "Shit, Earnest, do you hear that?" asks one of the soldiers to another. "No, what was it?" asks the soldier named Earnest. "Think we got Whiskey-Deltas…" says the soldier. "What?" asks Earnest. "Ernie, WD, Walking dead people!" replies the soldier in an annoyed tone. They hear snarling coming from the treeline. "Shit, that's definitely a walker!" says Earnest. The soldiers take out their handguns and start shooting at the walker.

"Emergency! Whiskey-Deltas have been spotted!" shouts one of the soldiers. Jim and the civilians are alerted by the gunfire and don't know what to do. "Shit! They'll make even more walkers come!" says Jim. The soldiers exit their tent quickly, rifles in hand, to see multiple walkers entering from many directions. "Civilians! Get into Lieutenant's tent, immediately!" shouts the Lieutenant as the soldiers are defending the camp from the massive horde of walkers.

Jim, Terry, and Nancy quickly run into the tent, Jim notices Gwen and her brother aren't in yet. "Where's Gwen and her brother?" asks Jim. Jim and Nancy look outside the tent to see Gwen trying to get her brother to go with her. "Sam, damn it, we have to go!" shouts Gwen to her brother. Nancy runs to Gwen and Sam. "Come on, Sam, we'll be safe in the tent." says Nancy to Sam in a comforting manner. Sam, with tears rolling down his cheeks decides to come with them into the tent. "Don't worry, Sam, the soldiers will stop the monsters!" says Gwen. Nancy returns with Gwen and Sam. Jim notices an extra rifle on the table and picks it up. "An M16A4 rifle." says Jim as he reads the label near the magazine. Jim keeps this with him as he and the rest of the civilians sit in the corner near the entrance of the tent. "Don't worry, if any walkers get in, I'll get rid of them." says Jim to the group.

The soldiers seem to stop firing. "Okay, the Whiskey-Delta threat has been temporarily neutralized." says one of the soldiers. They overhear the lieutenant talking to some of the soldiers. "The whiskey-deltas are going to swarm this place because of you, you fucking idiot!" says the Lieutenant to Earnest. "There were a whole bunch of them anyway! They would've swarmed us because of the lights we have on!" shouts Earnest. "Shut the fuck up, Kelly! Your sorry ass will be left here, as only one of our jeeps work!" says the lieutenant. "What do you mean?" asks Earnest. "I mean your sorry ass is being left here! We are not staying here another day!" says the Lieutenant. The soldiers all look confused. "Come on, boys, all of you except for Kelly's sorry ass are coming." says the Lieutenant. The soldiers get into the Jeep, and Pvt Kelly, completely gobsmacked, asks a big question. "What about the civvies?" asks Kelly. "They're your responsibility now, dirtbag!" says the Lieutenant as he drives off.

"YOU FUCKING SNAKES!" shouts Kelly in anger. Kelly enters the tent, intending to kill the civilians, until he sees something unexpected. "Put your gun down." commands Jim. "You may as well shoot me, doc, there ain't nothing I can do now." says Kelly. "There's a working Jeep towards the entrance, do you happen to be supplied with keys?" asks Jim. "I know Terrance drove that Jeep, he planned on escaping the Lieutenant with me and some of my buddies, but I don't know where he is…" "Well let's go find him or his remains, he might have the keys." says Jim.

Jim and the group walk down the now nearly pitch black trail, only Jim and Earnest have flashlights, as the rifles they are wielding have flashlight attachments. "Terrance was on patrol, we didn't see him rush back to help us, he must've got caught by a walker or something…".

Jim and the group make their way towards the end of the trail, which is near the now wide open military blockade. They see the jeep, and see multiple walkers banging on a door. "Let's try not to make too much noise." says Jim. Earnest takes out his knife. "You have to destroy the brain, right?" asks Earnest. "According to my studies, yes." says Jim. Jim flashes his light towards the walkers, as Earnest creeps towards them, Earnest gets behind one of the walkers, and stabs his knife into the back of its head, killing it. He pulls his knife out, and now the walkers are chasing him. Terry manages to distract one of the walkers by chucking a large stone at one of them, giving Earnest a chance to grab a walker by its jaw, and forcing his knife through its eye, killing it. Terry picks up a heavy stone, and charges the walker with it, he launches the stone at the walker, it hits the walker in the chest, knocking it to the ground. Earnest kills the last walker trying to bite him using the same tactic as last time, and he notices Terry having trouble with the walker chasing him. Terry tries to pick up another heavy stone, but the walker tackles him. "Guys! Help me!" Earnest grabs the back of the walker's neck, and stabs its head, killing it.

"Oh my god, thank you!" says Terry, in a very panicked voice. "My pleasure" says Earnest as he helps Terry get on his feet. "What were the walkers doing?" asks Earnest. "They were surrounding that door, there must be someone in there." says Jim.

They get closer to the door, and knock on it. "Who's there!?" they hear someone shout through the door. "It's Pvt Kelly!" says Earnest. "Kelly? What are you doing here?" asks the man from behind the door. "Is that you, Terrance?" asks Earnest. "Yes!" shouts the man. "You can come out, the coast is clear!" says Earnest. Terrance exits the room he was hiding in. "Thank god you saved- where's the rest of the squad?" asks Terrance. "They went AWOL." says Kelly. "What the fuck? They left the civvies here?" asks Terrance in a disbelieving tone. "Yeah, hey, you got the key for our Jeep?" asks Earnest. "Yes, yes I do." says Terrance, he checks his pockets. "Here, I got it!" says Terrance as he takes out a car key. "Wait, you got all of the civvies, and the two of us, how the hell will we fit all of 'em?" asks Terrance. "I can stand on the gunner platform, you drive, one sits in the front seat, the girl and her little brother can share a seat, and I guess two others will have to share the other seat…" says Earnest.

Jim takes his seat, the front passenger seat. "We are headed to DHS, that's where Lieutenant was being contacted from." says Terrance. Nobody protests it and they go on their way. "What street was DHS on again?" asks Terrance. "It's on McDonough" says Jim. "Hey Terrance, you think we should've done this during the day?" asks Earnest. "The streets don't seem that crowded right now." replies Terrance. "Well what if we run into a shitload of whiskey-deltas?" asks Earnest. In response, Terrance speeds up. "Woah, calm the fuck down man!" says Earnest as Terrance laughs. As Terrance is driving down a street, they witness a group of teenagers struggling to take with a backpack. "Oh shit, T! Look!" says Earnest as they see the teens trying to run as they see the jeep pull up. "Shit, looks like that one got chewed up!" says Earnest. "Do they have anything on them?" asks Terrance. "Looks like he has his backpack on him, but one of the WDs are eating him." Terrance shines his light on the walker, but it seems to not be distracted. "Want me to get it?" asks Earnest "Yeah, go get it, be careful, get it quickly!" says Terrance. Jim notices the teenagers are standing near a house, and watching Earnest trying to take the backpack. "Um, those kids are still there." says Jim. "What?" asks Terrance. "Those kids, they're just standing there." says Jim as he points them out to Terrance. "Fuck 'em, it's midnight, and the world's ending, those little shits shouldn't be out here." says Terrance. Earnest comes back into the jeep carrying the backpack. As Earnest comes back in, Terrance floors it down the street. "What's in the bag, Ernie?" asks Terrance. "Looks like some canned food and shit, those must've been scavengers, I think they wanted to jump me, I swore I heard one of them ask for me to come towards them.".

Suddenly, Jim hears a sound from behind the car. Earnest goes back on the gunner platform, where he is then shot in the head from an unseen person. "Ernie!" shouts Terrance. Suddenly, the teenagers hiding nearby come out from their spots and aim their guns at the car. "Out of the car!" shouts one of the teenagers, wielding a Mini-14 rifle. Terrance is about to floor it, until one of the teenagers puts a gun against the windows.

The people in the jeep all exit the car, Sam crying from fear. "Shut the kid up or we shoot him." says one of the girls in the bandit group. Sam stops crying, keeping his mouth shut with a horrified expression on his face. The bandits talk to each other for a few minutes, discussing what they want to do with the hostages they got. Jim gets the impression the one wearing a hoodie is their leader, he appears to have an M16 rifle in his hands. "We could just take their shit and tell em to fuck off" says one of the bandits to the hoodied kid. "Nah, I want that girl, and we can shoot the rest, startin' with the soldier." he says after pointing to Gwen. Suddenly, Jim speaks up. "If you kill us all, you'll doom the planet." says Jim boldly. The hoodied kid scoffs "Hah, who the fuck are you?" he says. "My name is Dr James Phillips, a scientist from the CDC." replies Jim. "I'm Damyean, was the QB for DHS 'till this shit happened.". "I actually recognize this little bitch here" says Damyean as he punches Terry. Terry groans in pain and tries to remain silent.

"Hmm these motherfuckers can be used for something, we can take em to our hideout and we'll see what we'll do with 'em." says Damyean. "Get your asses up, we got some walking to do." commands Damyean to the hostages.


	12. Chapter 12: Fugitives

**Chapter 12: Fugitives**

Jim and the rest of the hostages have been walking for over half an hour, Damyean has led them down the same avenue, picking off a few walkers on the way. Finally, the destination is seen. A church, with a large back area, with even a softball field. "Get these motherfuckers in one of them classrooms, lock everything, one of yall will be on watch."

Damyean commands a girl named Margaret to watch them. Margaret leads them into a classroom in the school part of the church, this room appeared to have been cleared of desks as Jim looks at it. "Lay down and just go to sleep, you try anything stupid, I'll shoot." commands Margaret, holding her hipoint.

Jim already has an idea on how to stop this girl, he just needs to know how ignorant the bandits are. The others try to sleep, Jim notices strange patterns in Terrance's breathing, so he gets the impression he's still awake.

Hours go by, Jim has been trying to not fall asleep. He hears footsteps from within the classroom. He hears the door open and close. Jim turns around to see if Margaret is still there, and is excited to notice she isn't there. Everyone else seems to have woken up from the door closing. Jim signals the group to shush, as he exits the room.

Jim can hear in the distance, bandits talking to each other, it seemed they were trading stories from the past. Jim sees the light to the girl's bathroom is on. He then notices a backpack nearby, which seems to be Margaret's stuff. Jim digs into the backpack and uncovers a KA-BAR knife. Jim hears the toilet flush in the girl's bathroom, and he quickly goes back into the classroom.

"What's out there?" asks Terrance. "SHHH!" replies Jim. Jim hides so that when Margaret opens the door, he'll be concealed. "Go back to sleep!" whisper-yells Jim to the people. Jim then hears the door to the bathroom open, and just a few seconds later, the door to the classroom opens. Margaret takes a few steps forward, and notices something's wrong. "Where's that scientist guy?" asks Margaret. Jim then gets Margaret into a chokehold. "W-w-what the fuck!" shouts Margaret, though her voice is muffled so she can't shout loud enough. Terrance then approaches Margaret and decks her in the face. Jim drops her, and she appears to be in a concussion, he then picks up her gun. "Dear god that's a shitty gun, a hipoint?" remarks Terrance. "Everyone can get up now" says Jim. "Have the gun, I'll keep the knife." says Jim as he hands the pistol to Terrance.

Jim and Terrance go to the hallway, where they can hear the bandits are still making small-talk. "What's the plan, doc?" asks Terrance quietly. "We've gotta get out of here, I want to cripple them simultaneously…" says Jim. "What?" asks Terrance confusedly. "I want to cause them to die." says Jim. "Well how will we do that? Let's just get the hell out of here and back to the humvee, the shitheads never took anything." says Terrance. "Still, I want to make a lasting impression on them." says Jim.

Jim then notices a fire alarm switch. "Hmm… we can set off a fire in here to set off a smoke detector…" says Jim. "I don't got a light on me." says Terrance. Jim and Terrance go back into the classroom. "Is anything out there?" asks Nancy. "No, but some of them are talking to each other not far from here, so keep quiet." replies Jim. "You got a light?" asks Terrance to Nancy. "No, I quit smoking a while back." says Nancy. "I got a light." says Gwen. Gwen walks up to Terrance and hands him a lighter. Jim and Terrance walk over to some filing cabinets which are filled with papers, Terrance lights the papers on fire. "Okay, let's get the hell out of here!" says Terrance. Jim looks outside the windows of the classroom, and notices one of the guards is staring at something. "We can't go out this door, someone's out there." says Jim. Jim walks towards the door to the hallway, and notices the bandits are still talking to each other. Jim sees in the bathroom that Margaret had exited from has a door to the other side.

Suddenly, one of the bandits can be heard walking towards the hall. "Gonna cap that bitch..." says the bandit. The group briskly gets into the bathroom, as the bandit can be heard walking towards the classroom. "Yo, Maggie, we're gonna cap Terry." asks the bandit, a teenage boy wearing a t-shirt, with a backpack, and carrying a revolver. The boy opens the door, to see the hostages are missing. "What the fuck?" says the boy. Terrance shoots the boy in the back of his head, killing him.

"Terrance what the fuck!" shouts Jim as Sam screams in terror. Jim quickly runs to the boy's corpse to pick up his gun, as he hears the bandits sprinting through the church. As Jim picks up the gun, Damyean barges in with his M16 rifle. "Motherfucker! You killed Pete!" yells Damyean, shocked at the sight. Jim takes this opportunity to shoot Damyean in the stomach, and quickly runs off. "AGH YOU MOTHERFUCKER! SHIT!" says Damyean as he collapses, holding his gut. Jim runs down the hall, as an overweight bandit carrying a glock aims his gun at him. "Don- Don't make me do it." says the man. "J-Just get out of here and I-I won't shoot" says the man in a scared voice. From behind Jim sees another bandit running from the other end of the hall, wielding a bat. Terrance shoots this bandit in the chest, killing him. The overweight bandit, shocked, drops his gun in fear. "D-Don't hurt me, please!" says the man. Terrance walks into the hall, and sees Jim staring at the overweight bandit. Terrance shoots the bandit in the face. "Don't show these fuckers mercy." says Terrance. Nancy runs from the bathroom to see the dead bandits. "Here, have this" says Terrance as he gives her the hipoint, so he can have the glock. Terrance, Jim, and Nancy walk into the classroom, to see Damyean bleeding profusely from his gut.

"You sick motherfuckers! I was saving these cats!" yells Damyean angrily while coughing. Terrance aims his glock at Damyean's face. "Yeah you win, good fuckin job. You don't know how fucked up DHS is you crazy motherfuckers, that shit gone to hell real fast, those fucking eses run that place now, killin me will set the football team after-" says Damyean, interrupted as Terry shoots him in the face. "Let's just get back to the car..." says Terry in a scared voice.

The group walks into the middle of the church, where they get assaulted by another bandit, a short kid wielding a handgun. "You killed my brother! DIE!" shouts the kid. He targets Terrance, missing all shots. Terrance shoots the kid in the shoulder, causing the kid to squeal in pain and fall on his back. Two more bandits barge in from the front door, "Shit, Jason!" says one of the bandits. These bandits were only armed with knives. Jim, Terrance, Nancy, and Terry aim their guns at the two bandits. "God damn, you fuckers actually killed Damyean?" says the bandit on the right, a tall bearded man. "Serves that little fuck right, he was a pain in the ass to teach." says the man as he lowers his knife. He sees Terrance aiming his gun at his head. "Okay, don't kill me, please, we wanted to kill Damyean, we were actually gonna do it tonight, me and Tina here, just put your guns down…" says the man. "Who are you?" says Jim. "That's Mr Richman, a PE teacher at DHS." says Terry. "Right, I don't think I taught him.". "Who killed our guy?" Terrance asks. "That was Michael, he was patrolling the softball field I think, he probably ran away.". Richman and Tina decide to back away from the front door, and suddenly, they get shot at from the street.

"This is for shooting my son!" furiously yells a middle-aged man wielding a shotgun. The group hides in the church as the man shoots Richman and Tina. "I'm Sorry" says Richman, coughing out blood. "FUCK YOU, YOU TWISTED BASTARDS!" yells the man as he blasts Richman's head off. The man walks into the church, and sees Sam. "Kid, get up." Sam gets up, mortified. "Nah you weren't that kid, anyone else here?!" Jim gets up, as the man aims his shotgun at him. "The fuck are you, some doctor?" asks the man aggressively. "I worked at the CDC." replies Jim. "One of you motherfuckers! You didn't let me and my family in! We got attacked by this group weeks later! That fucking football player killed my son! He tried to rape my wife!" he shouts. "We killed him, he shot at us while we were on our way to DHS." replies Terrance. "Don't go there, that's a shithole, I learned that the hard way, just take refuge in your house, the biters love noise, so you fucks might want to come with me if you want to live." says the man.

The group gets up. "Name's Bryce." says the man. "Jim." replies Jim. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here before the biters come!" commands Bryce.


End file.
